Ballistic vests have saved the lives of many law enforcement officers in recent years. As a result, law enforcement agencies have made it mandatory for their officers to wear a ballistic vest while on duty.
Ballistic vests have been available in recent years as a protective panel having overlying layers of a fabric made from woven high tensile strength fibers. Woven fabrics from an aramid fiber known as Kevlar, for example, have been used successfully in ballistic vests because of the high energy absorption properties of the fabric material. The material is also reasonably light in weight and flexible, which provides improved comfort when compared with previous vests which were made of metal and were therefore heavier and more rigid. The comfort of a ballistic vest is extremely important, especially to law enforcement officers, because of the heat build-up that occurs from wearing a heavy and inflexible vest for the long hours an officer is on duty. Resistance to projectile penetration is a principle factor in designing a ballistic vest; and added protective layers can offer greater protection against projectiles having the higher threat levels, but added protective layers also add undesired weight and inflexibility of the vest.
In addition to woven Kevlar fabric layers, ballistic vests have been made from other high strength fibers and composites to reduce weight and improve flexibility of the vest. However, ballistic vests using the lighter, more flexible materials also must offer the required minimum levels of protection against penetration by different types of projectiles.
Ballistic vests are regularly certified by subjecting them to ballistics testing to measure their ability to protect against different projectiles fired from different types of weapons at various angles. One ballistic test commonly used in the industry is the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) Standard 0101.03 Threat Level IIIA, which, in general terms, is a high performance standard requiring that the ballistic vest prevent penetration of specified 0.44 Magnum and 9 mm rounds fired at a velocity of at least 1400 ft/sec. In addition to prevent such projectile penetration, "backface deformation" also is a required test factor in the NIJ Standard 0101.03 Threat Level IIIA certification test. Backface deformation measures the trauma level experienced by a projectile that does not penetrate the test panel. According to this test, the maximum allowable backface signature (bfs) containment for soft body armor requires a maximum allowable bfs of 44 mm for 0.44 Magnum and 9 mm rounds.
There is a need to provide a ballistic vest that is reasonably light in weight, is highly flexible and comfortable, and is also capable of meeting the high performance projectile specifications of, as an example, the NIJ. Providing such a vest at a reasonably low cost for the comparable high performance level also is a desirable objective.
There are other instances where lighter weight vests are more desirable even though they may not meet the Threat Level IIIA standards. Here the challenge is to produce a lightweight vest capable of meeting the certification standards of NIJ Threat Levels II and IIA. An extremely lightweight vest with an areal weight less than one pound per square foot that meets Level II and IIA standards is desirable.
Such a vest design which meets these requirements is disclosed in applicant's U.S. Pat. No. 5,619,748. The disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. The vest of the '748 patent is marketed by Safari Land Ltd., Inc. under the trade name Hyperlite and is a concealable ballistic vest.
Problems associated with currently available concealable soft body armor ballistic vests include the vest not being designed to accommodate different body types. Body type 1 is a type wherein the waist measurement is significantly greater than the chest measurement. Body type 2 comprises a chest measurement and a waist measurement which are substantially similar. Body type 3 comprises a chest measurement which is substantially greater than a waist measurement. Previous concealable ballistic vests were designed to accommodate body type 2. The vests do not optimally accommodate body type 1 and body type 3 wearers. Consequently, standard designs either inadvertently expose areas of the body or provide an uncomfortable fit for the wearer.
Another problem of existing concealable ballistic vests is that they are manufactured from materials which do not facilitate the removal of body moisture produced when wearing the vest for prolonged periods of time. Another problem associated with current vests is that their construction provides for the ballistic package to be contained within a carrier which is sewn around the ballistic packages which prevents the ballistic material from extending to the edges of the carrier thereby preventing the ballistics material from covering the entire body. Another problem associated with prior concealable ballistic vests is that the strapping utilized to adjust the fit of the vest is made from elastic and Velcro which cannot be shaped or contoured, or provide multi-directional movement thereby providing for a less than desirable fit.
Another drawback from currently available ballistic vest designs is the inability to comfortably fit a female wearer. Pleats and darts which create seams were required to accommodate the bust. Added seams detract from comfort and fit. Variation in anatomy among women also prevented a single vest design from uniformly fitting all women wearers.
Consequently, a need exists for an improved concealable vest design which addresses the drawback of previous vest designs.